


On Top of the World

by hopeless_eccentric



Series: (Free! That's right! Free!) Penumbra Commissions [44]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Canon Typical Fear of Heights, Carnival, Fairs but not in a ren fair way in a yee yee fair way, Ferris Wheels, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Some Humor, getting stuck on a ferris wheel with your partner, like. so incredibly mild., this is really sweet you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29792565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeless_eccentric/pseuds/hopeless_eccentric
Summary: Juno spent a lot of time regretting his past choices, from piercings he and Mick got after losing a bet to Sasha to the kind of things that kept him up at night. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t really expected today to bring any more. The crew’s outing to a local fair on a nearby planet was meant to be a brief and relaxing getaway without much time or space for things to go wrong.Hindsight was the kind of vision that was clearest from the top of an unmoving ferris wheel.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: (Free! That's right! Free!) Penumbra Commissions [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921492
Comments: 14
Kudos: 82





	On Top of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Black_market_orchids_and_books](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_market_orchids_and_books/gifts).



> Hey all!! this one's real soft and also very self indulgent as a person who grew up at fairs and stuff
> 
> Content warnings for mentions of puking, nausea, heights, food mention

Juno spent a lot of time regretting his past choices, from piercings he and Mick got after losing a bet to Sasha to the kind of things that kept him up at night. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t really expected today to bring any more. The crew’s outing to a local fair on a nearby planet was meant to be a brief and relaxing getaway without much time or space for things to go wrong.

Hindsight was the kind of vision that was clearest from the top of an unmoving ferris wheel.

“Are you faring alright?” Nureyev called after a long enough silence, broken only by the faint sounds of Juno’s hands wringing the ears of the aggressively large purple rabbit Nureyev had won him after wasting a few too many fake creds on a dart throwing booth that was almost certainly rigged.

“Was that a goddamned pun?”

“It wasn’t intended to be, but now that you mention it—”

Nureyev’s chuckle wilted at the sight of Juno’s glare. He made quick work of doing away with the expression, laying a hand atop Juno’s to give it a light squeeze.

“I’m sure we won’t be stuck up here for long, love.”

“It’s been long enough already.”

“Perhaps something to look at might be helpful,” Nureyev suggested. “I don’t know how much you’d like to train your eyes on the ground, but—”

The suggestion alone was almost enough to coax a gag from Juno’s throat. Nureyev didn’t seem to be able to stifle his look of amusement, though the curl of his lip at the thought of the consequences of Juno’s airsickness tainted it enough for Juno to forgive the patronizing.

“Not down. Definitely not down.”

“Alright, then how about the horizon?” Nureyev prompted. “Not something necessarily right below us, but something a ways away. That building over there, perhaps. The one shaped like a triangle. What do you think it is?”

“Agricultural sciences,” Juno swallowed.

Nureyev raised an eyebrow.

“I was under the impression that this was more of a slow-moving rides and ulcer-inducing food affair than a scientific one, but do go on,” he smiled, so soft and sweet and personal that had Juno not been afraid of shifting an inch in the gradually swaying seat, he would have been compelled to kiss it straight off his sunstained lips.

“Some kinda old Earth tradition, but there’s usually some kind of knock-off farm themed museum set up in a barn at this kind of thing,” Juno explained. “Besides, I saw Rita and Jet go in about an hour ago and neither of them have come out. A couple years back, she found this stream docuseries on synthetic wheat farming and neither of us were able to work the whole time. I dunno what the hell it is, but once you start watching, you can’t really look away, you know? And with Jet’s cactus collection, I don’t think either of them are gonna be looking at anything else any time soon.”

“Fascinating,” Nureyev beamed, though the smile jolted from his face as their car lurched forwards.

Perhaps at some other time, Juno would have had some warm appreciation for the way Nureyev’s arm flew out in front of them, even if the bar across their laps kept them well in place. However, Juno was a little too focused on clinging to his seat for dear life to focus on much else until he caught his breath, coming back to his senses with Nureyev rubbing gentle circles into the back of his hand and murmuring sweet assurances that were all but lost into the cotton candy breeze.

“Are you alright, love?” He pressed.

Juno swallowed.

“I’m gonna die up here.”

“Dear,” Nureyev chided, giving Juno’s hand an extra squeeze as Juno laughed himself away from hysterics, “we’re going to be perfectly fine. Just bear with me for a few more minutes and don’t look down.”

“I was a private eye for years, Nureyev,” Juno shook his head. “You know what my first instinct is when someone tells me not to look into something?”

“Well, I’m sure we could find something else for you to look into.”

“Don’t condescend,” Juno snorted.

“Your dearest partner, perhaps,” Nureyev smiled, and though his grin was sharp and teasing and clearly meant to be a trap to draw Juno’s gaze away from the rest of the world, it was a trap he was all too happy to fall into. His hair was a little windswept from the way the breeze kept playing with it, tousling it as if they were childhood friends reuniting. Meanwhile, that smile, usually sharp and nearly sinister, was softened by the faint pink glow of summer sunset beginning to tug at the sleeve of the pale blue sky overhead, asking for a turn at painting the wispy clouds with its own brush.

“I think I’d rather look down,” Juno snorted, and Nureyev laughed too, for both of them knew it was another way to say ‘I love you’ at the end of the day.

“You wound me, my dear,” Nureyev chuckled, as if to say ‘I love you too.’

“I mean, looking down could be worse,” Juno considered after a moment of peering at the distant asphalt. “There’s Buddy and Vespa avoiding a clown. I never really understood why they have those things around in the first place.”

“Well, I don’t think they’re the most distasteful of attractions by any means of the imagination.”

“You just like the ones that throw knives,” Juno accused.

“And is there anything wrong with being a predictable individual, Juno?” Nureyev feigned offense.

“Nah, it’s just kinda funny when it’s you,” Juno shrugged.

“I beg your pardon?”

Juno didn’t have much time to elaborate before the ferris wheel lurched forward, finally smoothing out into a gentle rotation. He didn’t suppose the motion was so bad when it was constant, only ever jostled by the gentle rocking of their passenger car as they eased back to the top of the wheel once more. The view was a hell of a lot kinder that way too, with the sky staining a gentle yellow and the nighttime lights of the rides beginning to blink on one by one until the hazy gray of sunset shadow was dotted with manmade approximations of stars.

Feeling brave enough to move, Juno shifted over in his seat, if just to lay his head on Nureyev’s shoulder and take in a deep breath that smelled of fair food and sunset and Peter Nureyev’s cologne. He could not see it, but when Nureyev spoke again, Juno could hear the gentle smile in his voice.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Could’ve been worse,” Juno shrugged. “Had pretty decent company.”

“Pretty decent?” Nureyev scoffed. “My love, I thought what we had mattered.”

“Shut up,” Juno snorted.

“Juno,” Nureyev started after a moment's pause, filled only with a laugh no louder than the easy creaking of the ride, “have you ever kissed someone on a ferris wheel before?”

“Nah, usually I’m busy puking up an organ or two.”

“Well, before you can begin with that process, would you like to do so?”

Juno raised his head enough to catch Nureyev’s smile, not the public display of joy he put on when wearing the face of Peter Ransom, but something private. It was the kind of thing the two of them held in their hands together, just to cherish and keep warm and hide away from the rest of the world. As much as Juno wished Nureyev felt comfortable showing it elsewhere, a selfish part of him bloomed with warmth at the knowledge that it was a secret they shared.

The expression didn’t last long, however, for Nureyev found better things to do with his lips than smile.

It was a good kiss. Juno didn’t have the most poetry in the world for something that had become so comfortably normal, but it was an enjoyable moment nonetheless. Maybe it wasn’t the longest or most meaningful or sweetest of occasions, but it managed to make his mind grind to a halt for long enough that he barely noticed the ride had stopped again until an expletive fell from Nureyev’s lips instead of sweet nothings.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“What was it you said helped the experience? Decent company?” Nureyev tried his best to force a smile against the clear annoyance of having been caught atop a ferris wheel again.

“Something like that.”

“Well, you ought to look on the bright side, Juno,” Nureyev smiled. “Now it’s too dark to see the ground.”

Juno groaned.

“I really am gonna die up here.”

“Not alone, at least.”

Juno sighed, barely managing a glare against the onslaught of Nureyev’s gentle smile.

“At least you’re stuck up here with me.”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

**Author's Note:**

> man. man. remember going places with people? that was rad
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!! Make sure to SMASH that kudos button and leave a comment down below or ill unferris your wheel
> 
> Check me out on tumblr @hopeless-eccentric or on twitter @withane22 !!


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